INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGY

INTRODUCTION TO BIOLOGY

What is biology?

Biology is a study of living things or organism.

Living things include bacteria, fungi, animals, plants etc.

Biology is derived/comes from two Greek words;

                                       Bios – means “Life”

                                         Logos – means “study”

The people who study biology are called Biologist. Very small organism are called microorganism. The simplest living things are made up of one cell these are called unicellular organism e.g. bacteria, protozoan and amoeba (also are called microscope organism). Large organisms are made up of many cells these are called multicellular organism e.g. fish, trees, man.

                                         WHAT IS LIFE

Life is the state of living which plants, animals, and other living organisms have before they die. The basic unit of life is cell. All living things are made up of cell, cell are so small that they cannot be seen with marked eye.

                                         BRANCHES OF BIOLOGY

There are two main branches of biology

(1) Botany – Study of plants

(2) Zoology – Study of animals only

However there are many minor branches of biology. That deal with different aspects of living things

Example;

BRANCHES	AREA OF STUDY
1.Anatomy	Physical structure of organisms
2.Cytology	Deals with cell
3.Ecology	Relation between organisms and their Environment
4.Mycology	Deals with fungi
5.Taxonomy	How organisms are named and groups
6.Physiology	How organisms body parts function
7.Parasitology	Deals with parasites
8.Immunology	The body defense against infections and disease

IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING BIOLOGY

1. It helps a man to understand himself/herself better
2. Knowledge of biology enables human being to conserve the environment.
3. It helps man to evaluate environment uses such as pollution, global warming and environmental degradations.
4. Biology help to understand cause, symptoms, method of transmission, prevention, and treatment of diseases this improve the standard of living.
5. It provides answer to fundamental questions.
6. It helps us to enter in careers such as medicine, agriculture, reproductive, health and genetic Engineering.
7. Biology helps us appreciate nature.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BIOLOGY AND OTHER SUBJECT FIELD

Biology related to many other field of study such as agriculture, medicine, pharmacy such as veterinary, medicine and nutrition.

1. AGRICULTURE

Biology research finding on crops and livestock have led to improve agriculture production.

2. MEDICINE AND PHARMACY

Medicine is the study of prevention and treatment and cure of disease.

3. NUTRITION

Biology is used by dieticians to determine the kind of diets suitable for people with different health problems.

4. FORESTRY

Biologists have developed varieties of trees that grow well in dry areas, also that mature fast so as to prevent desertification.

                          CHARACTERISTICS OF LIVING THINGS

Living things have characteristics which make them different from non- living thing. These are;

1. NUTRITION/ FEEDING

All living things take in food or make their own food. Food enables living things to grow, develop and carry out on life process.

2. RESPIRATION

Respiration is a process by which food substances are broken down to produce useful energy in a cell.

     3.  EXCRETION

Is the process by which excess waste or harmful material resulting from the chemical reaction occur in body cell are removed out of body.

4. SENSITIVITY/ IRRITABILITY

It is the ability of an organism to detect and respond to a change in its environment

5. GROWTH

Growth is an increase in size and mass of an organism that becomes more complicated and more efficient.

     6.  MOVEMENT/ LOCOMOTION

Is an action of changing posture or position of an organism.  Movement which involve the whole body is called locomotion. E.g. Animals but plants just show movement in term of growth of their body parts. E.g. roots, shoots and leaves.

7. REPRODUCTION

Is the process  where by  living things give rise to new individuals of their own kinds. This ensures that there is continued existence of the species and life forms.

Non- Living things are referred to as inanimate

Living things are referred to as animate

SCIENTIFIC PROCESS IN BIOLOGY

Biology is a practical science that involves carrying out experiment, observation, measuring and experimentation are skills that we need when studying Biology, and we use our sense organs to make observation.

These organs are;

1. The eyes for seeing
2. The nose for smelling
3. The ears for hearing
4. The tongue for tasting
5. The skin for feeling

Scientific measurements are taken using specific instrument and units.

                               Some basic biological measures are

MEASURE	INSTRUMENT	SI UNIT
Mass	Beam balance/Digital balance	Kilogram (kg)
Time	Watch	Second (s)
Length	Ruler	Meter (m)
Temperature	Thermometer	Kelvin (K) - Degrees Celsius                  -Degree Fahrenheit

In biological investigation like in any other scientific research, methods are listed. The scientific method is a set of steps that scientist use to study things.

Those methods are

1. Problem identification

2. Formulation of hypothesis

3. Experimentation

4. Observation and data collection

5. Interpretation of data.

6. Conclusion

Problem identification

In day today life one time comes across question which require explanation or problem which needs solution or something to prove e.g. it is observed that buffaloes in Serengeti park are dying at great rate what would be the cause of death or there is poor harvesting or Earth warms are mostly found in the soil wells handed are as why?

                               

Formulation of hypothesis

A hypothesis is a suggestion of the answer to the question asked. It is an intelligent guess that tries to  explain as an observation for example Earth worms prefer shaded areas because in the soil shaded there is more moist. A hypothesis can’t be termed as a biological acceptable to explain action. Therefore experiment should be designed, proved or disapproved. If hypothesis is correct we say it is accepted, if disapproved we say rejected

Experimentation

An experiment is a test that is carried out under controlled conditions to determine whether a hypothesis is correct or not. In any experiment there is control experiment and experiment test. Example of experiment; Earth worms prefer moist or dry condition

Observation and data collection

The scientists  observe what happens from the time the experiment was set up to the time it ends. It is important to note all the changes made from the beginning to the end of the experiment and recording

Interpretation of data

At the end of experiment the scientist analyses the observations and Data recorded. The scientist may look for pattern or in the data               .

Conclusion

A conclusion is a statement that summarizes what a scientist has learnt from an experiment. When scientist read conclusion, they taste whether the data or information collected support the hypothesis (accepted) or not support the hypothesis (reject), if so another hypothesis must be formulated and repeat the whole experiment.

                                 BIOLOGY LABORATORY

A laboratory is a special room designed for carrying out scientific experiment. A biology laboratory is a special building designed for carrying out biological experiments. A laboratory should have adequate space for carrying out experiment, proper lighting, good ventilation, source of water, means of heating and adequate space for storing apparatus, chemicals and specimens.

LABORATORY RULES

In biology laboratory we use hazardous chemical, fragile equipment or dangerous specimens. For this reason, it’s important to follow a certain rules and regulation for our safety and safety for others.

         These rules are;

1. Do not go into the laboratory in the absence of a teacher or laboratory technician.
2. Do not handle or use apparatus, chemicals or specimens in the absence of a teacher.
3. Do not taste/ eat substances during experiment
4. Know the location of all exits
5. Do not leave experiment unattended
6. Turn off gas and water taps when not in use
7. Do not burn substances towards other people in the laboratory
8. Do not take laboratory equipments, chemicals or specimens out of the laboratory
9. Do not play or run in the laboratory
10. Read the labels or containers before using the contents. Do not interchange label.
11. Dispose all waste materials after all experiment.
12. After each experiment clean all the equipments you have used
13. Avoid touching yourself while performing experiment, clean your hands with soap and water after Experiment.
14. Do not touch electrical equipment with wet hands.
15. If you don’t understand something ask your teacher.
16. Know the location and operation procedure of all safety equipment e.g. First aid and fire extinguishers.
17. Dress properly for laboratory activities, tie back long hairs. Do not wear dangling Jewelers, Sandals. Shoe must cover a leg completely.
18. Report all accidents immediately to your teacher or technician
19. Never use dirty, chipped or cracked equipment.
20. Handle live spacemen carefully. if an animal bites or insect stings you, report the accident to your teacher

                 Distinguishing the biology laboratory from other facilities

The biology laboratory is different from other school facilities such as classroom, library or physics and chemistry laboratory.

A class room has desk and chairs, students are taught in a class room.

A library has variety of reading materials some libraries have tables and chairs where we can sit and read.

A biology laboratory has models, specimens, cage, aquaria and chart which may not be in physics or chemistry laboratory.

Some of unique things found in biological laboratory are preserved specimens of organisms such as insect, micro organism and plants.

                             WARNING SIGNS/ SAFETY SYMBOLS

These are warning signs that are found on apparatus and chemical containers in the laboratory. Some may be found in or on the boxes used to hold either chemicals or apparatus. These signs must be obeyed in order to ensure safety in the laboratory before one uses a chemical, one should know whether that chemical is Toxic, Corrosive, Flammable, Oxidant, Explosive, Harmful or Irritant.

TOXIC

Toxic substances are dangerous and may cause death immediately or after a few days. When handling toxic substances one should be very careful. In case a chemical gets into contact with your skin it should be washed out with a lot of water.

CORROSIVE
                                                                                                         click here to continue this topic